ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 will be held from 20 to 27 July 2026 in Accra, Ghana. The tournament is organised by the Ghana Table Tennis Association under the auspices of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF). The championship will feature competitions in the Cadet (U15) and Junior (U19) age categories.
The championship includes team, doubles and singles events for boys and girls in both age categories, as well as mixed doubles competitions.
Participants
Participants of the 2026 ITTF-Africa Youth Championships (men) - list of participants of the 2026 ITTF-Africa Youth Championships (boys) on the ITTF website
Participants of the 2026 ITTF-Africa Youth Championships (women) - list of participants of the 2026 ITTF-Africa Youth Championships (girls) on the ITTF website
Players born on or after 1 January 2011 are eligible to participate in the Cadet (Under 15) events.
Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to participate in the Junior (Under 19) events.
Championship Playing System
TEAM EVENTS
- In the Junior/Cadet team events (1, 2, 3 and 4), teams consist of 3 to 4 players according to the new Swaythling system: AX; BY; CZ; AY; BX.
- If no more than 5 teams are entered, the event will be played in one group; from 6 to 10 teams in 2 groups; from 11 to 15 teams in 3 groups and more than 15 teams in 4 groups. (For more than 20 teams, the decision will be taken by the Jury).
- A round-robin system will be used in each group.
- In the second stage, when team events are played in 2 groups (6 to 10 teams), a cross-over system will be applied.
- In the second stage, when team events are played in 3 or 4 groups, winners and runners-up of all groups will play a progressive QF Knock-Out stage for the top positions. Teams finishing 3rd and 4th in each group will follow the same procedure for the remaining positions, and so on for the other participating teams, in order to determine the complete ranking.
- In the third stage (in case of 2, 3 or 4 groups), winners of the second stage will play against each other, and losers of the second stage will also play against each other, to determine the final ranking of all participating teams.
- The allocation of teams into groups will be based on the latest African Ranking List established in the first week of July 2026, taking into consideration the three highest-ranked players of each team registered for the championship.
- Players under 15 years old may be registered in team events in only one (1) age category.
- The top team in each group will be determined according to the team seeding list.
- The remaining teams will be drawn according to a modified snake system.
- Unseeded teams will be allocated by draw.
- In all team events, in case of teams in the same group having won the same number of matches, the ranking position will be determined according to ITTF Regulations (item 3.7.5: Group Competitions).
- Junior/Cadet singles events (5, 6, 7 and 8) will be played from the beginning in a Knock-Out format (best of 7 games) to determine the winners.
- Doubles events (9 to 14) will be played from the beginning in a Knock-Out format (best of 5 games) to determine the winners.
- The draw and seeding will be conducted by the Referee and Competition Manager in cooperation with the African Technical and Ranking Committee of ATTF, according to ITTF Regulations and the latest African Ranking List established in the first week of July 2025 for all individual events.
- No association may enter more than four players in each of events 1, 2, 3 and 4, including the host association.
- No association may have more than four entries in each of events 5, 6, 7 and 8, or more than two entries in each of events 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
- The host association may be allowed to double the number of entries in each of events 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
- Players under 15 years old may participate in singles events in only one (1) age category, and may also participate in doubles/mixed doubles events in one (1) age category according to the standard quota.
The winners of each team category, as well as finalists in each individual event, will receive direct qualification for the 2026 World Youth Table Tennis Championships, which will be held in Türkiye in November 2026.
Useful Links
ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 – the tournament page for the ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 on the ITTF website can be found here
ITTF Africa Youth Championships 2026 – playlist of the ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 live streams on the ITTF-Africa YouTube channel
Playing system of the ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 – playing system of the ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 on the ITTF website
ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 General Schedule – official general schedule of the ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026
Qualification Pathway for the 2026 WYTTC – qualification pathway for the 2026 WYTTC (World Youth Table Tennis Championships) in Istanbul, Türkiye
Players list of the ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 – players list for the ITTF-Africa Youth Championships Accra 2026 on the ITTF website
